Shelving



- 2 Sheets-Sheet A. B. WAGNER 8v E. LIESENHOFF.

SHELVING.

(No Model.)

vll/1;, Z.

/A Il ff', h

UNITED "STATES v13A-TEF@ OFFICE.

ALFRED B. WAGNER AND EDWARDELIESENHOFF, OF MIAMISBURG, OHIO.

SHELVING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of IiettersPatentlN o.j543`4,413, datedFebruary 19, 1895.

Appneetien met November 5,1s94. seeiel Ne. 527,988. (No meaei.)

.To all whom it may concer-n:

Be it known that we, ALFRED B. WAGNER and EDWARD LIESENHOFF, ofMiamisburg, county of Montgomery, State of Ohio, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Shelving; and we do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled vin the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the ace companying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecication. V

Our invention relates to improvements in shelving, and has for itsobject to provide a system of shelving for stores and other places; thatis easily and quickly adjustable to enable access to be conveniently hadto the goods thereon.

To this end the improvements consist of a construction that permits theshelves to be separated or parted at any point, with .but little effort,as will appear from the following specication, taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l, is a front elevation ofour irnproved shelving, a portion of one side of the standard brokenaway; Fig. 2, an enlarged side elevation, or a view looking in thedirection of the arrow, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an enlarged crosssection, on thelines rz-x or y-/y of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4e, a section on the line u-u,Fig.l, brackets and plates not shown.

In the specification similar letters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several views.

(A) designates the supporting base, which is preferably a metal castingof sufficient weight to insure a proper support for the shelving.

(a) and (a) designate vertical side pieces, constructed of lightermaterial, preferably wood, rigidly mounted on the base (A), and at thetop attached to a cap (a") of any preferred ornamental design.

column or standard, having essentially, two open sides, and a hollowinterior; in the upper extremity of which there is rigidly mounted atransverse shaft b having thereon a series of independently runningpulleys (b).

(c) and (c) designate two series of4 `vertically slidingbars,'preferably constructed of This completes a iron, aninch andaquarter wide byaquarter of an inch thick, of any suitable length, sayabout forty five inches each. These sliding bars are arranged in pairs,in the interior of the standard,on opposite sides, and each pair isconnected at the upper ends by cables (d), which surround the pulleys(b).

(e) and (e) designate laterally projecting guidev bars, of which thereis one attached to each of the bars (c) and (cl). These guide bars serveto prevent'any twisting or lateral movement of the vertically slidingbars (c) and (c) to which they are rigidly attached. Each one of theseguide bars (e) and (e) is of a length to project about half way of thewidth of the companion vertical bar or the sliding bardirectly oppositethe one to which said respective guide bar is attached, in order thatwhen said vertically sliding bars are moved up and down, the brackets(f)\a'nd (f) thereon will not come in contact with said guide bars.There is upon each of the vertically sliding bars (c) and (c), onebracket (f) or (f); the position of one bracket on 1ts respectivesliding bar, being the reverseA of that of the bracket on the companionbar, as shown in Fig. 1, where it will be seen the brackets (f) and (f)are on the extreme upper and lower ends of their respective bars (c) and(c), so that the elevation of oneshelf will correspondingly lower theother.

(g) and (g') designate theshelves, one being independently Vmounted oneach bracket. The shelves may be constructed with a view to accommodatethe articles which they are intended to hold, whether clothing, notions,dac.

The invention is mainly suitable for cloth-Y ing stores, but of coursemay serve a variety Aof uses. The shelves (g) and (g') as shown,

are especially designed to hold coats; there being circular openings (g)in each of said shelves, as shown in dotted lines, over which, curvedmetallic bars (g3) are placed, and secured to the shelves.

It is well known that when a number of coats are placed upon each other,the shoulders or parts where the sleeves join the bodies, will be, muchhigher than any other part of the pile. This requires greater spacebetween the shelves than is otherwise necessary, and in order toaccommodate this part of'a pile of coats, there is much space betweenthe shelves Ico that cannot be utilized.

openings, through which the shoulders, or highest portion of the pilemay project; the curved bars (g3) serving toprotect the projectingportion of said pile from the weight of the pile on the next uppershelf.

(h) and (h) designate transverse metallic guide plates two of which aresuiiicient, and are placed preferably about eleven inches from the topand bottom of the stan dard, rigidly attached to the sides thereof.These plates are provided with a series of slots (z') in which thevertically sliding bars (c) and (c) are confined and allowed tofreelymove.

The operation of raising or lowering the shelves, is performed bycatching hold of the bracket (f) or (f) of the shelf that is to beraised or lowered, and pressing upwardly or downwardly thereon. Theweight of the goods upon the shelf that is moved downwardly by theoperation, adds to the necessary pressure to elevate the opposite barwith its shelf, and thereby renders the operation comparatively easy.The weight of the goods l on each pair of shelves so moved, is usuallysuiiicient to counterbalance the shelves in any position they areplaced.

It will be understood from the foregoing description, that pressureapplied to any one of the shelves to lower or elevate said shelf, willhave the effect of moving the shelf similarly supported on the companionbar, in an opposite direction, and thus the shelves may be lowered orraised at will, without the use of levers, cranks, (isc. In order toprevent the ends of the vertically sliding bars,-that is, the upperends, from coming in contact with their respective pulleys, we mountinthe sides (d) and (ct') of the standard, rods (5)-(3) adjacent to saidpulleys, and above the upper ends of said bars.

In practice the bars (c) and (c) may be brought much closer togetherthan is shown in Fig. 2, and thereby the standard greatly reduced inwidth as compared to that shown in Fig. 1. A space of say, three eighthsof an inch between each of said bars, will enable a free movementthereof, without frictional contact with each other. The vertical spacebetween each of the brackets upon which the shelves are supported, whenthey are in their normal uniform positions, as shown in Fig. l, maydepend somewhat upon the requirements. In the present instance, we haveprovided a space between the adj acent brackets of about seven and ahalf inches. The vertically sliding bars (c) and (c') have a movement ofabout eleven inches.

It will be seen that there may be a number of standards placed in a lineand connected to each other, to form one continuous row of shelving.These matters, however, do not in any way change or depart from ourinvention.

In ord er to prevent a preponderance of weight that might at any time beon one se- To avoid` this we provide each shelf with one of saidcircular sition. Said bars will thus belocked against any movement. Byshifting the push rods (s) `and (s), any one or more pairs of said barsmay bepermitted `to move, or all of them may be movedby pulling saidshift rods entirely from over said sliding rods.

(g4) designates brace bars attached to the brackets (f) and (f) uponwhich the shelves are supported.

Having fully described our invention, we desire to claim- 1. In ashelving, the combination with a hollow standard; of two series ofvertically sliding bars; the bars of one series exibly connected withthose of other series to form pairs; pulleys for moving the bars of eachpair up and down in opposite directions, and shelves supported by saidbars, substantially as de scribed.

2. In a shelving, the combination with a hollow standard provided withtwo open sides; of two series of vertically sliding bars, the bars ofone series being flexibly connected by a cable or analogous means, tothose of the other series; pulleys mounted in said standard for saidcables; and guides in said standard to prevent twisting or lateralmovement of said sliding bars during their movement, substantially asdescribed;

3. In a shelving, the combination of a hollow standard with open sides;transverse guide plates (71.) and (h) in said standard; two series ofvertically sliding bars (c) and (c) exibly connected in pairs; the barsof each pair simultaneously movable in opposite directions; guide bars(e) and (e) fixed to said sliding bars; pulleys over which each pair ofsaid sliding bars is suspended; and shelving supported on said slidingbars, substantially as described. i

4:. The combination with a hollow standard; of two series of verticallysliding bars inclosed therein; the bars of one series having a flexibleconnection with those of the other series, at their upper ends, so thatthe bars of both series are arranged in pairs; antifriction bearings forthe fiexible connection IOO of each pair; a shelf attached to each ofsaid thereof; guide plates (h) and (h) through which said shifting barsmove; a shelf sup'- ported on each of said shifting bars; the shelf onone bar occupying a different position from` that on the companion bar;a oircular opening (g) in each` of said shelves, and a metallic bar (g3)over said opening, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands this 29th day ofOctober, 1894.

ALFRED B. WAGNER. EDWARD LIESENHOFF.

Witnesses:

R. J. MCCARTY, AMos K. CLAY.

